Here’s a tip for storytellers: if you want to create a villain who is undeniably evil for your audience to hate, just make them a Nazi.

There’s no two ways about. Nazis are morally abhorrent, their ideology devoid of any humanity and their historical deeds the stuff of nightmares.

Hence, it is only right that they serve as punching bags – and this is clearly exemplified in “Sisu”, a Finnish film released in Malaysia last week with little fanfare.

Its quiet reception is rather a shame, given that this is probably one of the most enjoyable action films of the year! And critics seem to agree: many describe it as absurd at points, but fun for the most part.

Directed by Jalmari Helander, “Sisu” gets its title from a Finnish word that roughly refers to extreme courage in the face of overwhelming odds.

Taking place in 1944, the film is (very) loosely based on a real-life Finnish sniper named Simo Hayha. Here, the protagonist is one Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), a gold miner living in rural Lapland after years of service as a fearsome Finnish commando.

After literally striking gold, Korpi gathers his treasure and begins his journey back to Helsinki – which is when, of course, Nazis show up.

Of course, these are not just ordinary Nazis. They are led by SS officer Bruno Helldorf (Aksel Hennie), who discovers the gold and wants to get his greedy hands on it.

He and his fellow fascists try to murder Korpi, but as it turns out, there’s a good reason the old man is so feared and respected by Finns.

Cue the brutal struggle during which the bad guys get their rightful comeuppance, all thanks to a vengeful granddad who doesn’t know how to die.

Here, Helander seems to have drawn some inspiration from cowboy westerns, with certain scenes reminiscent of the classics. Otherwise, some have compared “Sisu” to “John Wick”, while others have drawn parallels with Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds”.

This all makes sense, given how Korpi is an unstoppable killing machine who makes mincemeat out of the Nazis.

Really, “Sisu” has a very simple premise and even simpler characters. In fact, Korpi has absolutely zero spoken lines until the literal last minute of its 91-minute runtime!

To some extent, the film engages in the concept of “show, don’t tell”, in that the audience is given information through visuals rather than through dialogue, buoyed by its cinematography and expressive performers.

That said, if you are looking for deep, nuanced characters, you aren’t going to leave satisfied. There is very little the audience knows about Korpi, with most of the info on him being delivered through clunky exposition by the Nazi general.

And of course, the Nazis, being Nazis, are straight up evil, with little room for nuance or ambiguity. There are few things as glorious as seeing them being sent to hell in the most brutal ways.

Some of the kills are downright absurd – for example, could you really pick up a landmine with your bare hands and hurl it at a target without it blowing up? Probably not.

Still, the film certainly thinks a person like Korpi can and, indeed, Nazis go “poof!” in a cloud of red when the old man uses everything at anything at his disposal to despatch his opponents.

All in all, “Sisu” may be a ludicrous movie, but it’s also a very, very entertaining one, as long as you’re willing to overlook or embrace the silliness of it all.

And truly, there’s nothing that screams “schadenfreude” as much as watching Nazis getting their just desserts.

As of press time, ‘Sisu’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.